


Confidential

by salesman



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Office, F/M, POV Third Person, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 05:22:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4335494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/salesman/pseuds/salesman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As the new Art Director of Inquisit Design, Ellana Lavellan feels completely out of her depth. And to make matters worse, she can't stop thinking about a certain coworker.</p><p>Office romances never end well.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Confidential

Ellana was rushing to work this morning. _Shit, shit, shit, shit_. She hadn’t even been there very long, and already she was late. Cassandra was going to kill her. Why did it feel like her assistant was her boss?

She finally made it to the Haven building, clicking the elevator call button continuously. _Come on, come on, come on_.

It got there ( _slowly_ ) and she busted through the door, hitting the _3_ button like a maniac. When Ellana reached her floor, she walked as briskly as possible, hoping no one would see the sweat collecting on her brow.

She ducked behind a wall when she heard some employee chatter. _They must never know.._. As sneakily as possible, she slid into her office. Cassandra was thankfully not at her desk at the moment, but Ellana noticed something on hers.

A cup from a local coffee shop, still warm. She picked it up, observing it curiously. _Did Cassandra get this for me?_ And then she noticed something written on the cardboard sleeve:

_Mornings are unfortunate._

It was written in a beautiful script, the strokes decisive and clean. Hand-lettering... was Cassandra able to do that?

Her mind instantly thought of Solas, but she couldn’t be sure it was him. She woke up her laptop and messaged him on chat.

 **_me:_ ** _I found some very lovely hand-lettering on my coffee cup this morning :)_

He didn’t message her back right away (damn), so she tried a sip of the coffee. It tasted _delicious_. She checked her inbox and cringed when she saw twenty new emails waiting for her. The first one was from Josephine:

_Ellana,_

_We have found some interesting market research regarding the Breach project. The Research team would like to request a meeting with you, if possible, by today or tomorrow._

_Thanks,_  
_Josephine_

She was typing a reply when the messenger blinked.

 **_Solas:_ ** _:) Did you like it? It’s my favourite blend. The cafe is close to the office._

Ellana smiled, she couldn’t help it, and for some reason (okay, she _knew_ the reason) her heart started to beat faster. She typed a reply.

 **_me:_ ** _I love it! Can you take me there sometime? I’d like to try more._

Perhaps it was a little forward, but what did she have to worry about anyway? Coworkers got coffee together all the time. Again, he took his time responding, so she finished typing the email to Josephine, telling her she was available today. The messenger blinked again.

 **_Solas:_ ** _How about after work today?_

Her heart _really_ raced now. She barely even read the message before typing hers:

 **_me:_ ** _Sounds good :)_

 _Very_ good.

She leaned back in her chair, scanning the entire office through her glass walls. Her eyes casually glanced over towards the visual designers. Solas was sitting at his desk, as normal. He looked up towards her, giving her a knowing smile. Ellana smiled back, nodding ever slightly.

This was going to be trouble.

 

*****

 

Cullen and Solas were talking about some wireframes at a table near the break room. She had just popped into the kitchen to grab another cuppa joe (she was an addict), and found herself (not so) secretly staring at the two. Cullen was holding an iPad, gesturing to some of the work they were discussing. Solas nodded along, his hand placed on his chin.

“He’s handsome, no?” Leliana said, sneaking up from behind and startling her.

“Ah! Oh, it’s you, Leliana,” Ellana coughed as she turned around. “Um... who’s handsome?”

She smiled at her. Well, more like _smirked_. “Cullen,” Leliana answered, eyes pointing towards the UX head.

Ellana followed her gaze to look at him, but her eyes involuntarily wandered back to Solas. “Yeah,” she conceded. “I suppose.” She took another sip.

“He’s single, you know,” Leliana whispered to her, pouring herself some coffee. “I heard he was after some woman a while back, but it didn’t work out...”

“Mmm,” Ellana acknowledged. “Why are you telling me this?”

She shrugged, but a small, sly grin was on her features. “I heard you were single, too,” she said suggestively.

“Ha,” Ellana laughed nervously. It wasn’t a real laugh. “Don’t you think that would be... inappropriate? To date my employee?” And _how_ did Leliana hear she was single?

Leliana shrugged, shaking her head slightly. “As long as there’s no bias... and you’re the big boss, you make the rules.” She walked out of the kitchen then, leaving Ellana to her coffee and staring (stalking?).

She considered what Leliana said while looking at the two, her gaze definitely not on Cullen. It would be a bad idea. Right?

 

*****

 

Five o’clock couldn’t come fast enough. Ellana lingered at her desk, finishing up a few emails and trying not to appear too eager. Cassandra popped her head in the door, informing her boss she was leaving for the day. Ellana nodded. “Have a nice weekend,” she bid her.

When she left, her eyes flashed towards Visual. Solas was packing up his things, putting his laptop into his messenger bag. He was wearing a green, short-sleeve polo and his usual khakis. She noticed how toned his arms were. Hmmm.

He started walking to her office, so she kept her eyes locked on her screen and pretended to finish typing something. He knocked on her door while opening it simultaneously. Knocking was polite, but unnecessary for an all-glass office.

“Ellana? Do you still wish to go to Singing Maiden?” he asked her, one hand playing with his bag strap.

She looked up from her computer. “Ah, yes! Let me just gather my things.” Completely planned.

Ellana grabbed her purse, which was already packed, and they headed out. He held the door for her.

The cafe was pretty close, about four blocks from their Haven office building. As they walked, she felt a bit nervous, as if this were a date. It wasn’t, right? Solas made light conversation with her.

“How was your day?” he asked, somewhat awkwardly.

Ellana shrugged. “Emails. Meetings. Same old, same old. You?”

He nodded “Sketches. Drafts. High fidelity graphics. Same old, same old,” he repeated with a smile.

She laughed. “I miss those things,” she admitted. She hadn’t made anything visual since she started at Inquisit.

He smiled. “You can still design in your spare time,” he suggested.

“I’m pretty busy,” she shrugged. “It takes a lot to run a firm.” Does it, though?

Solas smiled. He wasn’t wearing a jacket, even though it was kind of chilly outside. “I will be honest, Ellana. I looked up your portfolio,” he confessed, staring ahead of him.

“You did?” she asked, (not that) surprised. Every designer did that. “What did you think?”

He grinned again. “It was impressive. I particularly appreciated your packaging design. The subtle way it contoured with the product shape and shadows to imitate the logo was clever.”

Ellana laughed. “You noticed that? Most people don’t see that. Even the client couldn’t see it!” Impressive. Unusual.

“I’m not most people,” he smiled.

“Well, thank you,” she said, probably sounding too shy, “... for not being most people.”

They arrived at Singing Maiden, a small(ish) coffee shop that had cool written all over it. The entire interior seemed to be made of wood, and there was even a woman singing and playing guitar in the corner. _I hope I’m hip enough_.

They walked over to the register, and she examined the large blackboard menu. There were tons of choices, and Ellana had no idea what to pick. “Do you recommend anything?” she asked Solas.

“Bedwyr Blend is what you had this morning. If you would like to taste another, I would also recommend Ember.”

“Hmmm,” she considered. “I’ll try Ember.”

Solas ordered for both of them, much to her surprise (and secret, very bad delight). When he also _paid_ , Ellana felt so unsure of what to do, she stammered out an “I’ll get it next time” excuse, but inside she was freaking out. _Was_ this a date?

They sat at a table together. The way he leaned back in his chair looked relaxed. Comfortable.

It wasn’t long before their drinks were ready. “Sol...ASS? Sol-ass?” the barista called obnoxiously. Since he had paid, Ellana offered to grab the order for them.

She walked up to the counter. “Ah, yes, Solas? That’s for me.”

“Weird name,” the woman (Anna, as her nametag implied) commented.

Ellana shrugged and laughed awkwardly, resisting the urge to say something snide and quickly walking back to their little round table instead. “Here’s yours.” She placed Solas’ cup before him.

“I am always entertained by the creative ways others pronounce my name,” he observed, cupping his hands around the beverage. Although he said that, he didn’t look very entertained. He looked more annoyed.

“What does your name mean, if you don’t mind me asking?” she asked.

He sipped his coffee and stared out the window. “It is the Welsh word for solace.”

Ellana waited for him to say more, but he didn’t. And soon, a silence stretched out longer than it should, and her mind started to wander, thinking of why someone would name a child solace. Was he born after some misfortune?

Minutes were ticking by slowly, but somehow it was already six o’clock. Ellana felt hungry, but she didn’t want to suggest dinner in case it was too much too soon, and she didn’t want to leave to eat by herself, either. So she posed another question instead.

“Doesn’t coffee at this hour only make your insomnia worse?” It was only after she saw his expression that she realized it was rude. He looked back at her, frowning, and then his eyes floated towards the window again. It was so, so rude. She shouldn’t have asked. “Ah, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“It has never made a difference,” he replied. He met her gaze again and smiled. “I simply enjoy the taste.” He laughed then, and it surprised Ellana, but in a good way. A way that unknotted her twisted stomach. “The taste of _acceptable_ coffee, that is.”

“Oh, of course.” She laughed a little, too. “Some coffee should be considered a public offense.”

He chuckled again, and Ellana could just drown in the sound. She wanted to hear it again and again. She only had a few sips left of her drink, but she didn’t want this to end.

“Would you like to get some dinner?” she asked.

His smile faded, but he answered, “Yes.”

They both knew this was a mistake. She could tell from how they gazed at one another, like the knowing, secret looks between partners in crime. It was a dangerous situation, but they’d been tiptoeing for far too long, and she was tired of feeling suffocated. Every time Ellana was with him, there was something in the air. Like a pressure that drew her closer. Her whole body responded to it, and she could sense his every movement. He was there, she was here. They were connected.

They left the cafe. There was a place a good stroll away, and as they walked, she swore their bodies kept getting closer and closer. Conversation faded to silence, and they both stared ahead like they were walking alone. Like if they didn’t acknowledge each other, no one would know.

But then his hand grazed hers, and a shock jolted through her body. It was as if all the gravity in the world was weighted to that feeling, and she would do everything in her power to keep it there.

His pinkie moved, reaching out and touching her own. It was gentle, and weaved itself between two of her fingers. Her breaths were getting heavier, and she tried to focus on keeping them steady. She wouldn’t move her hand away for anything.

And then it was simultaneous, like they had planned it all along. Their hands turned together, lacing fingers and cupping palms. His hand was so warm, so soft, and so tender, and yet somehow so lonely, and she wanted to feel more. She wanted to feel it all.

Ellana let out a slow, deep exhale through her nose, and raised her gaze to his. His eyes were already waiting.

They were quiet, because words could ruin everything. Any sound could break this spell, this magic that had finally connected their bodies. And they were too desperate to take that chance, so they continued to the restaurant, walking hand and hand in silence.

It was fatal, but she was already drowning, anyway.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago in March or so, fully intending to go for the long-multi-chapter-haul, but I don't think I'll ever finish, so I just posted the parts I thought were most interesting (to me, at least).
> 
> And UX means user experience, btw. I would have explained more of the designer terms if I had written the whole thing, but oh well.
> 
> Oh, and instead of a somniari, Solas is an insomniac. I had so much planned...


End file.
